My son and I are scheduled to take the Meteor from Winter Haven FL to NYP and back. I have booked a roomette both directions. We board at 12:10 PM. Will they serve us lunch or should we eat before hand? Also we are due to arrive at NYP at 11:06. Should I plan on eating after we arrive? Is the bottled water unlimited?
This will be our first time traveling by train. I have really enjoyed reading this forum to learn what to expect. The train is the perfect solution for my son who has autism. His school is flying to NYC and he is scared to fly.
I see the first poster answered two of three questions. The bottled water is unlimited. If you have an excellent SCA, he/she will make sure you each have a bottle in your roomette, if not, they will be on the coffee counter in the car. While the coffee is not bad, don't expect Starbucks. At least it is caffine.
Also reading your post further with it being your first train trip, meals are included in the price of your roomette, but do tip accordingly, that being based on what the price would have been for the food consumed. Lounge car snack items are not included in the room. You will be on Viewliner equipment, which is single level cars. The roomette has two seats that face each other during the day with a fold down table. I am not sure about Viewliner, but Superliner the table has an embossed checker board on it. You would supply your own game pieces. At night, the SCA will convert the room for sleeping. It comes with a total of 4 pillows (2 each bed) and the beds are bunk beds runing the length of the room along the window. There will be a wash basin in the room and a non enclosed toilet in the room. There is a public shower at the end of the car and Amtrak does supply towels and soaps. I am not sure if the public shower has a toilet in it. It is advertised you should receive a daily morning newspaper, although I have never received one. Also juice is available at the coffee bar area. It is very important you make sure both of you have your shoes on, preferably closed toed shoes when walking on the train. I do not know what the severity of your son's autism is, but you mentioned he was scared of flying. Remember to walk between cars you are on a jiggling platform. You are surrounded by some sort of cover to protect you from the elements, but you might be able to see the ground pass by. You have to press the button on the door of your car and the door of the next car to open the doors. There are handles to hang on to. While I personally love this part of trains, your son might have some issues with it. Please feel free to speak to your SCA and he/she will be more than happy to bring the meals to you in your roomette. After you all leave Winter Haven and the SCA comes around to collect your ticket and introduce him/herself to you, explain your situation with your son, and they will make sure your journey is memorable and comfortable.
I assume you will be making a return journey back to Winter Haven. In that case in New York, you have access to the ClubAcela room if you are in a sleeper again going home. It is a seperate waiting are with non-alcoholic beverages and snacks as well as TV and attendants who can assist you with your travel needs. They will generally board from ClubAcela before boarding coach passangers, so it won't be quite like boarding in Winter Haven. A fun website to go to is
http://www.trainweb.org/usarail/winterhaven.htm I went ahead and set it up for Winter Haven for you. You might enjoy going through this with your son to get him excited. It shows photos of each station on the route and tells you when it was built. With your schedule in hand, you will see your next stop is Kissimmee. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Kissimmee and it brings up that station photo and information. Do be sure and post a trip report when you return and tell us how everything went.
